1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to exercise and fitness equipment, in particular a heavy training bag for pugilistic, martial and other similar arts, which provides uniform resistance and contains non-settling filler material.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
The typical prior art heavy training bag is comprised of an outer shell filled with a mixture of filler material, such as shredded cloth, foam or the like, and weight material, such as small sand pouches dispersed throughout the filler material. The filler material provides resistance and a cushioning effect to a user when the user strikes the prior art bag with any of his extremities (arms, legs, fists, hands, etc.); and the weight material provides weight to the heavy training bag to prevent erratic and exaggerated rebound after the prior art bag has been struck by a user.
Prior art heavy training bags have the disadvantage of having their contents settle over time and with use. The weight material sinks toward the bottom of the prior art bag. As a result, the prior art bags develop uneven resistance strike zones; wherein, the approximate top one-third of the prior art bag becomes a soft density and affords minimal resistance; the approximate middle one-third of the prior art bag becomes a medium density and affords average resistance; and the approximate bottom one-third of the prior art bag becomes a hard density and affords maximal resistance. As a further result, these variable strike zones reduce the area of the sweet spot of the prior art bag to the middle third of the bag, and the bottom third of the prior art bag poses the threat of physical injury to a user when striking the prior art bag due to the unyielding, hard density.
Various prior art bags have attempted to overcome these disadvantages and to reduce settling of the filler material and the resultant non-uniform resistance. Examples include changing the prior art bag filler material from the standard fill methodology of an aggregate filler, such as shredded cloth or rubber strips, interspersed with sand pouches, to a fluid, such as gas (typically atmospheric air), liquid (typically water) or a combination of gas and liquid. However, both fluids pose the problems of leakage from the prior art bag, non-uniform resistance and settling; in particular, a liquid-filled prior art bag does settle and the contents slosh upon impact resulting in erratic rebound.
Illustrative prior art that uses a fluid filler material of either gas, liquid, or a combination of gas and liquid are: U.S. Pat. No. 2,197,545 issued Apr. 15, 1940, by Bachman et al. for a Football Dummy; U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,796 issued Jul. 9, 1985, by Critelli for a Method of Filling an Athletic Bag with Air and Liquid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,258 issued Sep. 15, 1992, by Donohue for a Punching Bag Construction and Suspension; U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,403 issued Jul. 19, 1994, by Kuo for an Inflatable Punching Device; U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,443 issued Aug. 22, 2000, by Kuo for a Punching Bag; U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,605 issued Apr. 27, 2004, by Chen for a Punching Bag Having Solid Hanging Structure; US Patent Application Publication 2002/0086776 published Jul. 4, 2002, by Fields et al. for a Training Bag; US Patent Application Publication 2002/0094917 published Jul. 18, 2002, by Wang for a Punching Bag Assembly; US Patent Application Publication 2002/0198085 published Dec. 26, 2002, by Wang for a Punching Bag Assembly; US Patent Application Publication 2006/0166793 published Jul. 27, 2006, by Gobel et al. for an Assembly of Sports Equipment Fillable with Liquid and a Gelforming Means, and Sports Equipment for Use in this Assembly; US Patent Application Publication 2008/0096733 published Apr. 24, 2008, by Epstein for a Liquid-Fillable Heavy Training Bag; US Patent Application Publication 2002/0188360 published Aug. 7, 2008, by Chu for an Inflatable Cushion Bag for Striking; and a heavy training bag having an outside gel lining that is available from Title Boxing (www.titleboxing.com).
Other prior art bags have attempted to overcome the previously mentioned disadvantages and to reduce settling of the filler material and/or the resultant non-uniform resistance: (1) by use of various other filling materials, such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,708,638 issued Apr. 9, 1929, by Smith for a Tackling Dummy which discloses interior discs of a fibrous substance such as felt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,151 issued May 8, 1962, by Sheehan for a Ship and Pier Fender which discloses interior bags stuffed with nylon fiber waste; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,489 issued Apr. 17, 2001, by Nicholson for a Heavy Bag and Method for Filling which discloses use of shredded rubber as a filler material; (2) by a prior art bag that is rotatable about its horizontal axis by 180 degrees as needed in order to effect a substantially maintained consistency in resistance over its striking surface area as disclosed in US Patent Application Publication 2006/0100067 published May 11, 2006, by Washburn et al. for a Training Bag; (3) by means of a multi-compartmented prior art bag that provides for resistance which can be varied as desired by a user such as: U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,658 issued Feb. 7, 2006, by Laudenslager et al. for a Modular Heavy Bag; and US Patent Application Publication 2007/0099772 published May 3, 2007, by Fu et al. for an Adjustable Punching; and (4) by means of a prior art bag that provides for an outer core of impact material to protect a user from the settling effects of an inner core of filler material as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,940 issued May 22, 2001, by Fotsis for a Training Bag.